A Heart for Art fundraiser to aid Shrewsbury father who had stroke

Friday

Jan 31, 2014 at 5:00 AMJan 31, 2014 at 10:24 PM

SHREWSBURY — The beauty of living or working in a place with a strong sense of community is that when one person calls for help, everyone comes running.

And sometimes — as in the case of Art and Kristen Ward — they may have seen themselves as more of the running type than the calling type. But as they learned in September 2011 when Art suffered a debilitating stroke, you don't necessarily have a choice about which camp you fall into.

As the beloved Mr. Rogers once said, his mother's way of calming him when he saw scary things happening in the world was to say, "Look for the helpers. You will always find people helping."

A Heart for Art is a family fun night event that will take place from 6 to 9 p.m. Feb. 7 at Sherwood Middle School, where every single event and offering is designed to help raise money for the very therapy that the Ward family seeks — a hydrotherapy pool. The helpers, in this case, want to make that dream come true.

During the Wards' ordeal, the community of Shrewsbury — and, more specifically, the community that lives inside the walls at Sherwood Middle School — quickly rallied together to offer their support.

"They are a wonderful family," said Sharon Wade, who has worked alongside dozens of her and Ms. Ward's colleagues to design an event that is a celebration of Mr. Ward's successes in recovery. A Heart for Art promises to be an evening of entertainment for kids of all ages, and most of all a fundraiser for the therapy the Ward family has found to be most rewarding.

Weekends away, authentic sports memorabilia, and a coveted pair of One Direction tickets are all up for auction, and there are countless raffle baskets awaiting attention. And groups of students have been hard at work designing gaming events in each "neighborhood" of the school to keep the children engaged and amused.

Organizers hope to raise the more than $25,000 necessary to purchase and install a therapy pool at the Wards' home, and the outpouring from local businesses and individuals has been awe-inspiring, said Ms. Wade.

"Having this pool in our home would offer Art limitless opportunities to continue to make great progress towards returning to many of the activities he has been unable to do since the stroke," Ms. Ward wrote as part of the event's web page. "Art's physical therapist informed me that this type of Endless Pool, with the treadmill option, would help improve his gait, balance and overall strength to continue his goal to walk and increase his chances to have functional use of his left arm and leg, and hopefully full strength and control of his right arm and leg."

Prior to his stroke, then-44 year-old Mr. Ward was an avid hockey coach/player who was "vibrant and in good health." While he works toward restoration in his physical body, he continues to be the proud father of three sons and is, by all accounts, a determined fighter. Though the episode left him impaired in many ways, the family has been grateful that he did not suffer any damage to his cognitive abilities.

Mr. Ward, according to event planning member and Ms. Ward's co-worker Moira Cristy, has made "unbelievable progress." Unfortunately, she added, insurance companies often pull the plug on funding therapies they deem unsuccessful, not acknowledging that progress can be slow and steady, like Art's.

"Pool therapy is often one of the first things dropped by insurance companies," Ms. Wade agreed, adding that it is often one of the therapies most preferred by stroke victims, as the weightlessness allows them to take more risks with their bodies. The injustice of those two facts — combined with the fact that the pool at which Mr. Ward was previously receiving therapy has closed — has inspired the entire Sherwood community to roll up their sleeves and take matters into their own hands.

"Throughout all of this, Kristen has had a smile on her face and is just so determined," said Ms. Cristy. "We all admire her so much and we want to help in any way possible."

Tickets will be available at the door. The cost is $10 for adults and $5 for kids ($20 family cap). Tickets for games and activities for will cost 50 cents or 10 for $5.

For more information, contact organizers at aheartforartfundraiser@gmail.com.

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